New Milford in Litchfield County, Connecticut — The American Northeast (New England)

Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company

1881 – 1927

óState of Connecticut Archaeological Preserve ó

By Michael Herrick, September 13, 2009

1. Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company 1881 – 1927 Marker

Inscription. About Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company . . .
The New Milford site at Great Falls was one of the best unused waterpower sites in Connecticut with three principal advantages when Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company began acquiring property in this area in 1881. A large waterpower supply decreased the amount of coal needed to turn quartz and other minerals to fine powder. This powder was a major ingredient in their world famous, high quality paint products. The company used a somewhat archaic system of grinding with large stone rollers which required a great deal of power. They needed coal to power steam engines which ran pumps and drying equipment and also drove grinding equipment when waterpower was insufficient. Waterpower greatly diminished the cost of buying and transporting coal from Pennsylvania.
A second advantage of the Great Falls site was its proximity to quarries for raw material. Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company bought and leased a large amount of property around Great Falls and found some quartz deposits there. When local mineral proved insufficient, the company acquired a large quarry in the Southford section of Southbury, less than fifteen miles away, which along with a few other sources served their needs well until about World War I. A final critical site advantage was the immediate proximity of the Housatonic Railroad (later Berkshire Division of New York, New Haven & Hartford) which crossed the Still River just west of the factory. The railroad brought fuel and raw materials to Bridgeport Wood Finishing

By Christa Howarth, June 11, 2015

2. Bridgeport Wood Finishing Company Marker

Found 6/10/15 off Chatham on a salvage barge which sank in 1905. Disc says The Bridgeport Wood Finishing Co New Milford Conn.

Company and transported finished products as well as ground quartz or silex sold to other manufacturers.
The finely-ground minerals sold to other firms were used in high quality ceramic and abrasive products such as Bon Ami and Soapolio.

Erected 2007 by Friends of Loverís Leap State Park.

Location. 41° 32.635′ N, 73° 24.458′ W. Marker is in New Milford, Connecticut, in Litchfield County. Marker can be reached from Still River Drive 0.2 miles east of Pumpkin Hill Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Located on the old road to Falls Bridge in Loverís Leap State Park. Marker is in this post office area: New Milford CT 06776, United States of America.

Found this today off of Chatham Cape Cod on a salvage barge which sank in 1905. It carried various metals bundled into bales as its cargo. This particular disc is brass and is embossed with The Bridgeport Wood Finishing Co. New Millford, Conn. It appears to be a flattened cap or perhaps something which was attached to a container of the product.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on September 26, 2009, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 1,561 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on September 26, 2009, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. 2. submitted on June 12, 2015, by Christa Howarth of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 26, 2009, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. 6. submitted on June 10, 2015, by Christa Howarth of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.